North Yorkshire proposes £1.7m in cuts to School Improvement Service

Dan Windham

Eight improvement partnerships have responsibility for drive school improvement in their areas

Restructuring will save £1.7m

North Yorkshire County Council is planning to make £1.7m worth of savings through the proposed restructuring of the School Improvement Service for September 2015.

In a report presented to the County Council’s executive on Tuesday, March 17 the county’s assistant director of education of skills proposed a move towards sector-led leadership.

Our task now is to achieve the most effective partnership model which will be fit for purpose in the coming years.”

County Councillor Arthur Barker, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Schools.

The report, prepared by Jill Hodges, proposed that eight Improvement Partnerships would have the responsibility to drive school improvement outcomes in their area.

Ms Hodges said that whilst the savings were necessary, she believed it presented a good opportunity to work together with school leaders to achieve improvement.

She said: “We are having to make the savings just as all other local authorities are, that’s the world we are in.

“We recognise that it’s really important for every child to go to a good or outstanding school, it’s not just a big saving increase.

“The proposal is a partnership with schools and it’s an opportunity to having to make the savings.

“Our philosophy is that we want to be working with all the schools because they all have strengths. We want to keep the strength of all of them.

“This is an exciting time, it’s innovative and creative and that everybody in North Yorkshire we want the best and it’s looking at how we can achieve that as a collective partnership.”

County Councillor Arthur Barker, Executive Member for Schools, said whilst the primary responsibility for improvement was with schools, the local authority plays a key leadership role in developing am working partnership between schools.

He said: “We have much work to do in developing our school improvement plan and we are now consulting on the detail, but we are confident that this will be a very effective way forward and represents best value for ensuring that every child has access to the best education possible

“We believe in North Yorkshire, like Government, that the primary responsibility for school improvement rests with schools. But we also believe that the local authority has a key leadership role in developing effective partnerships, building relations between schools, sharing knowledge, facilitating peer learning and upholding accountability.

“Our task now is to achieve the most effective partnership model which will be fit for purpose in the coming years.”